Once upon a time
by mikancchi
Summary: HIATUS. Based on Snow White, Gakuen Alice version! What happens when her stepmother ordered for Mikan to be killed! She runs into the forest! And what surprise greets her there? Full Summary inside, R X REVIEW!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

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Summary: This story is based on Snow White, Gakuen Alice version. Mikan's mother has recently died, and his father had no choice but to marry another woman for the sake of their kingdom and for his baby daughter. For some reason, he falls into a chronic illness right after the marriage. Poor Mikan, nicknamed Shirayuki-hime (Snow White), is forced to work as a scullery maid by the new Queen. What will happen? R&R pls!

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice and Snow White belongs to their respective owners.

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"Mama!"

The woman tucked in her child, making sure that the blankets were securely around her. "What is it Rei-chan?"

"Mama, can you tell me the story again? As a bedtime story? Please?" pleaded her daughted.

She laughed softly. "Rei-chan, I told you the story so many times! Aren't you tired of it?"

Rei pouted, her arms crossed. "No! I want to hear it again! Please?" she added at the end.

She sighed. How stubborn...just like her. And just like _him._ "Alright, alright. But you have to stop eating those strawberry truffles before bed! You'll get cavities!" she scolded her daughter.

Rei was surprised. How did her Mama know that she'd been secretly taking the sweets from the kitchen? But she was determined not to give up without a fight. "_Mama..._"

"No, or else no story!"

Rei pouted, her crimson eyes holding the look of displeasure. "Fine. But you need to give me a bedtime story tomorrow as well!"

She ruffled Rei's raven hair. "Alright. Well, here's how it began...Once upon a time..."

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...Once upon a time, on Midwinter's day, the Queen of the Sakura Kingdom sat by the window. She watched the snow fall, blanketing her kingdom. And then, far off into the main city, she saw a little child walking across the snow, hand in hand with her mother. The scene was touching to the childless Queen.

She wished she bore a daughter, innocent and robust, so when the next midwinter day comes, she could walk hand in hand with her daughter across the snow covered kingdom.

And before long, the queen bore a female child. However, she died right after her daughter was born.

Soon after, her father took another wife, thinking that his newborn child needed a mother to take care of her. The kingdom itself required for every king to have a spouse. Thus, he searched high and low for a woman who was as beautiful and as kind as the late queen.

The woman he had chosen was indeed beautiful, but also vain and wicked. The King, not knowing anything, married her with a lavish wedding. A huge banquet was thrown, and everyone celebrated the new Queen. After all, the woman had kept a mask of feigned gentleness and kindness that the King was looking for.

The new Queen then showed how outrageously evil she was. She bossed aroung the servants, snapped at the maids, and even ordered the sacred Sakura tree, the foundation of the kingdom, to be burned down.

People were horrified at the true nature of their Queen.

And every day, she would ask her magic mirror, "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" The mirror in turn said, "You, my queen, the fairest of all."

The forgotten child, who had been named Sakura Mikan, was growing up rapidly. She had light brown hair with large, orange eyes. Nicknamed 'Shirayuki hime' (Snow White), everyone loved the child, for she was gentle as she was beautiful.

One day, the queen asked her mirror her usual routine: "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"

She had not been expecting the answer: "Shirayuki-hime's the fairest of all."

Outraged, the queen forced Mikan to work as a scullery maid. Her father, who was said to fallen ill with a chronic disease, was bedridden. He had started to become ill ever since he had married his new Queen.

This was how Mikan spent her childhood. Her work roughened her skin, made her lips pale, and her hair ragged and dirty. However, she did her work diligently, wanting to be accepted by her step-mother.

This is where the story begins...

"Wait Mama!" Rei sat up in her bed, flinging her covers aside. "I need to go pee!"

She watched her daughter run for the bathroom. She giggled. Her daughter was so unlike her father!

"I'm back!" Rei climbed back into bed again, hoisting the blankets messily around her. "Ok, so what happened next?"

She continued...

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A/N: Well that's the prologue of this story? How was it? Please read and review everyone! How should the next chapter go? **R & R** please~

**Note: I made a few changes to the story!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice and Snow White does not belong to me!

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Mikan marched into the main kitchen, carrying a bucket full of water. The water sloshed dangerously.

"Yoshi!" she exclaimed, rolling up her sleeves. "Time to clean the floor!"

Mikan, dressed in a ragged dress with her hair in twin braids, wet the rag with the water in the bucket. She got onto her knees and started to scrub the floor.

"Ick," she muttered, picking out some unidentifiable bits off the floor. "No wonder father became sick...The kitchen's really dirty...and I must clean it!"

Her father, as long as she remembered, had always been sick. He was not waking up from his coma. Due to the doctors with the healing alice, he was being kept alive.

"Shirayuki!" Mikan turned to see her friend and best assistant cook, Kaede. "Are you cleaning the kitchen now?"

"Yep!"

"Well, don't let me disturb you. Come to my room later; my grandpa sent some sweets!" Her grandfather was a reknowned pastry shop owner.

Mikan grinned widely. Sweets meant a whole box of deluxe pastries! Yum! "Definately! Don't stuff yourself full before I get there!"

Kaede stuck her tongue out. "Maybe I will, so hurry up!" She left, carefully making her way with the pile of dishes.

Mikan sighed. As usual, there was much work to be done. She had to clean the banisters, wash the dishes, scrub the floor, sweep the floor, and lord knows what. Her stomach gave out a long growl.

"Argh -I'm so hungry," she groaned. She had woken up late because of cleaning the storage room late until one o'clock in the morning. She had unfortunately missed breakfast, the most important meal of the day! And today was waffles and strawberries, her favourite!

"I'm so lucky to be best friends with a cook; I might have died if not for that," she muttered, swiping the dirty patches on the floor.

She paused. What was the use for getting bitter? She slapped herself mentally. "Baka! Finish the cleaning so you can eat Mikan!" she said to herself. She had to be grateful that her stepmother had not kicked her out of the castle and let her stay as a scullery maid.

She returned to her cleaning more vigorously, motivated by the thought of food.

'I hope Kaede cooked a feast...I think I have to skip lunch....'

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Meanwhile, in the Queen's private chambers, the Queen was putting on make-up and doing her hair for the ball that was going to be held tonight.

She sighed, gazing into the huge Venetian glass mirror.

"Koizumi sama!" A page boy appeared in the entrance. "Prime Minister Narumi has requested a council meeting tomorrow regarding the alliance between the Sakura Kingdom and the Hyuuga Kingdom!" The boy sounded as if he was reciting.

She made an irritated snort. That stupid prime minister was still trying to forge an alliance with that no-good fire country! She felt a twinge of irritation escaping from her facade.

'Perhaps I should just give the antidote to my husband,' she thought. 'If he wakes up from the coma that I induced him into, then maybe I can escape all this stupid politic buisness!'

But no, she couldn't do that. Then that good for nothing brat would have to become a princess again. That could never NEVER happen. Not after all the lengths that she had to go through to become Queen of this kingdom.

She noticed that the page boy was still there. "Go away, you prat, or else I'll light your buttocks on fire!" she growled.

The boy ran out, clutching his rear desperately.

So many affairs to deal with. She glanced at the magic mirror in front of her. Unlike the huge Venetian glass mirror, this one was pitch black. "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"

"'Tis you still fair-"

"Yes, I am the most beautiful!" she cooed.

"-but Shirayuki is the fairest of them all!"

The Queen froze. She turned around slowly to face the mirror. "What did you say?"

The mirror repeated itself. "'Tis you still fair, but Shirayuki is the fairest of them all!"

Her eyes turned black and mad. "WHAT?! SHE IS A SCULLERY MAID AND DARES TO ME MORE BEAUTIFUL THEN ME!"

She was furious. She stomped around the room, and grabbed the nearest item -which happened to be a glass lamp balanced on a pile of books.

CRASH! BANG! BANG! CRASH!

All the maids in the castle flinched at the noise. They knew how scary the Queen could be when throwing tantrums like this.

The Queen huffed and puffed like a dragon, one hand clutching a book that had managed to not get thrown to the wall...yet.

SMACK! went the book, its worn pages falling out.

"PAGE BOY! PAGE BOY! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU IDIOTIC GOOD FOR NOTHING!" she roared.

"H-he-here ma'am," the poor boy stuttered, stumbling into the room. Oh why was he in charge of the messenges for the Queen?

"FETCH ME A KNIGHT! NOW! GET WITH IT!"

The whole castle could practically hear this.

'She's the reincarnation of a banshee, that's what,' thought the Prime Minister, flicking through his papers. 'Lord knows why His Majesty chose that woman to marry, I do not know...'

"Y-ye-yes Your Majesty." The page boy scurried out of the room.

The Queen was seething with rage. "That little girl! I'll kill her for good this time!"

_Azumi Yuka_...She smirked evilly. _Your daughter will pay for what you have done..._

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A/N: Yay! Finished first chapter! What do you think? Please read and review~

Note: This was changed with a suggestion made from one of the reviews! It inspired me to a different plot!


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice and the original story of Snow White belong to their respective authors.

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Mikan had finally finished her work. "Phew! I'm finally done!" She got up...

And she wilted onto the floor. Growling noises came from below.

"So hungry..." she sighed, clutching her empty stomache.

She put away the cleaning supplies in its closet and walked up slowly to Kaede's room. 'I wonder what's on the menu today...'

She raised her fist to knock on the door. "Kae-"

The door flung open, almost smacking Mikan in the face. In front revealed a very worried Kaede. "Mikan! Quick!" she hissed, flapping her hand. "Inside!"

Mikan was grabbed by the scruff of her neck, and she felt herself being _pulled_ into inside the room. To her surprise, the room was dark. "Kaede, what-"

"Shh! You need to be quiet!" Kaede gave her what felt like clothing. "Quick, change into this!"

"Eh? But-"

"No questions, just do as I say first!"

Mikan reluctantly started to change in the darkness, fumbling with the buttons.

When she squinted in the darkness and saw the dim outline of her friend's face. "Ok, Kaede. What's going on?"

Kaede's eyes were wide with fear. "I don't know, but something bad is going to happen to you! One of my friends is a maid in waiting for the Queen, and she said that she called for a knight!"

This was not new for Mikan; she had indeed heard her stepmother throw a rampage this afternoon. Well, the whole castle had heard it. "So?"

Kaede gulped. "Well...you see...one of my friend's a maid, and she cleans the Queen's chambers..."

Mikan tapped her feet. "Ok...and? Kaede, it's ok, just tell me please. What's going on?"

"She...she said that...that the Queen said 'ThatlittlegirlI'mgoingtokillherforgoodthistime!'" she ended in a rush.

Mikan took a few seconds to realize what she had said. "Umm can you repeat that please?"

"I said, I quote (she made a quoting motion with her fingers) 'That little girl, I'm going to kill her for good this time!'"

Mikan stared at Kaede, wide eyed. "WHAT?!"

"SHHHH!"

Mikan quieted down, but her heart was still beating fast. 'My own step-mother? No, that's impossible!'

"I think she heard her wrong, Kaede. My step-mother's not the kind of person to kill a person."

Kaede rolled her eyes. "Mikan! Snap out of it! We all know how evil the new Queen is! Anyway, my friend thinks-and I think so too- that the 'little girl' refers to you!"

Mikan was wide-eyed by now. She...she was being hunted this very second?!

"So you have to escape! I raided the wardrobe for a dress more suitable for outdoors. Here's a woolen mantle," she said, handing her the clothing.

"Wait! Where do I go?" Mikan said, panicked about the sudden need to flee.

"Go through the Northern Forest; it's the closest forest here that you can run to. And here's a basket for you-it has some bread and cheese." Kaede shoved a heavy basket into her arms.

"Nani? I've never left the castle even once! And the Northern Forest lies on the border between Sakura Kingdom and the Kasai Kingdom! We don't have an alliance with them!"

"You don't have time, Mikan! You're Shirayuki-hime, and everybody will recognize you if you stay in town! You need to escape to the closest place where no one will recognize you, or else-" she stopped abruptly.

The weight of her unsaid words hung heavily in the atmosphere.

"Mikan-chan, you're my good friend, and I want you to be safe. And you're our true princess, Shirayuki-hime. So please, I beg you, flee!" Kaede ended with a sob.

Mikan quickly went over to her friend and hugged her tightly. "Don't cry, Kaede. I'll flee so Kaa-sama (mother) can't find me."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, Kaede crying and Mikan patting her head gently. Then Mikan untangled their arms and let herself out of the embrace.

"I should go now," she said softly.

Kaede sniffed. She grasped her shoulders and looked into her face. "Hime-sama, princess, be safe, ok?" She turned to the window. "You need to climb down from here, Mikan. It's a sturdy rope, and this is the only way out of the castle that isn't surrounded by guards."

Mikan gulped. She looked down the ledge, and let out a sigh. She turned to face her anxious friend. "Yoshi! This isn't a problem! Bye Kaede-chan! See you later!"

She put on the mantle, hoisted the basket onto her arm and grabbed the rope in her already sweating hands.

"Mikan!"

The escapee looked at her friend. "I made some dumplings for you too eat! It's in the basket!" Kaede whispered loudly.

She smiled. How ironic it was, talking about food in this critical moment. "Arigato!"

She started to climb down.

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**END OF CHAPTER 2**

A/N: Chapter two! Mikan's escaping to the Northern Forest! ...Get it?

Well, please review...onegai shimasu?


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice and Snow White does not belong to me T_T...

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Mikan carefully placed each foot between each crevice between the stones that made up the tower. Her hair blew away from her clammy skin in the cold night wind, making her shiver involuntarily. Her foot slipped.

"Eek!" She quickly regained her balance, placing her foot more firmly then she would have normally. She breathed a sigh of relief.

'Ok, I'm almost there, whatever you do, don't look down, _don't look down_...'

"AOUUUUU..." A wolf howled in the distance. Her heart jumped. And she felt the rope slide between her sweaty palms. 'Oh no,' she thought.

She tried not to scream as she shot down to the ground. Her limbs desperately coiled themselves around the rope, and she squeezed her whole body around the rope for her dear life.

But of course, _anybody _in such a situation would have made a noise. And a loud one at that.

"_Must not scream must not scream I'm not going to go SPLAT I'm not going to go SPLAT." _She opened her mouth to take in a deep calming breath.

But not all things went according to plan.

So instead, she let out _something_ instead of taking in something.

_"_KKYYAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

The hunter was grumbling to himself, his boots crunching the grass underneath. His arms were propped back against his head, messing up his shoulder-lenth black hair.

"I mean seriously, why _me?_ Of all the knights in the palace it could have been, me! _Me!_" He sighed.

_Flashback_

He had been joyfully ambling along in the gardens with a few beautiful maidens on his arms when a flustered looking page boy ran up to him.

"Are-_pant_- you_- pant- _a knight?"

He stared at the boy. "Um, yeah, I guess so?"

The next moment, he found himself being dragged to the Queen's chambers. Away from his beautiful maidens...

The page boy came to an halt. He saluted to an invisible person. "Your Majesty! The Knight you have requested has arrived!"

The Queen's head whipped around. Her pupils looked like slits, as if she was a cat. "YOU-" she hissed, thrusting her arm to point at him, "-ARE GOING TO RUN AN ERRAND FOR ME!"

Tono backed up a bit slowly, shaking his hands in front of him as a gesture of denial. This new Queen was freaking him out; he had never met her before. After all, he had been knighted by the previous Queen, Azumi Yuka.

He was literally seeing smoke whistling out of her ears.

"Uh- well you see, Your Majesty, as much as I would love to, I'm a knight you see-"

"And _that_ is exactly why you are running an errand for me!" She threw a jeweled box at him. "You are going to get the heart of Sakura Mikan and put it in this box and bring it back to me!"

Tono stared at the woman, not quite sure if he had heard her right. "_Pardon?"_

The Queen narrowed her eyes. "You, you dumb deaf knight, are going to cut out Sakura Mikan's heart and put it into the box!"

Tono stared at the brown haired woman, dumbfounded. He knew that she was mean, but not _mad._

"I'm sorry Your Majesty, but I cannot go around killing people of royal blood-"

"Well, I just gave you permission to do the deed!"

"But-"

The Queen's eyes flashed dangerously. Her black dress swished around her menacingly. "Are you _disobeying _me?!"

He gulped. "N-no, ma'am!"

"Then get on with it! Now!"

He stood frozen to the spot. If he was sure, then the girl Sakura Mikan was Shirayuki-hime! There was no way in hell that he would kill such a beautiful innocent girl! For goodness sakes, she was only seventeen! What could she have done to the Queen?

When the Queen saw him hesitant, she was infuriated. A dark aura of killing intent surrounded her. They would not comply to her wishes, when she was a QUEEN, their ruling monarch?!

"_Do you know what I'm capable of?_" she hissed. She slowly raised her finger towards Tono. "_I can curse you and-"_

He jumped. "No ma'am! I'll leave now!" he half-screamed, frightened by her actions.

The Queen smirked. "Good...And if you tell another living soul about this, I'll _kill _you, understand?"

He felt cold sweat treacle down his face. "Y-yes, Your Majesty," he managed to stutter. Then he turned around on his heels and left the room quickly, almost running.

He thought he heard her laughing.

_End of Flashback_

He sighed. How was he going to kill the Princess? She was the only hope to their kingdom now, with the King bedridden.

Moreover, how was he going to find her? He had stationed guards over every entrance and exit, and yet, she was no where! There were even guards patrolling the corridors!

"KKYYAAAAAA!"

He whipped his head around to the direction where the noise was coming. It was a feminine young voice.

'There!'

He quickly ran to the direction of the Northern Forest, his rifle hoisted behind him.

'Let me find her first before doing anything,' he thought.

* * *

THUMP!

Mikan impacted the ground jarringly on her behind. "OW!" she wailed quietly. She was definitely going to have one (or more) huge, black and blue bruise on her bum tomorrow. _If _tomorrow came for her. 'No, I'm going to be fine.' She reassured herself.

After taking in deep gulps of air, she looked up to where Kaede's window was. Did she really fall such a distance? She shivered, hugging ehr arms around her. She was definitely glad that it was over. Her heart was still thumping crazily inside her chest.

After a while, she shakily got up to her feet, her trembling hands dusting herself off.

'Ok, now I have to go through the Northern Forest,' she thought.

She looked at the tall Sakura trees swaying gently in the breeze. The branches creaked. They made an eerie sound, as if the trees were groaning.

She shivered, her skin feeling the arising goose bumps. She peered into the darkness of the forest, dimly illuminated by the waning moon.

There could be spiders, snakes, wolves, monsters, and creatures of very kind...

She closed her eyes and gulped. She raised her right foot and forced it down in front of her.

'Here I go,' she thought, clutching her basket firmly. She raised her left foot and brought it down an inch in front. And the right foot.

A tortoise would have been much faster at the pace she was going.

But that was how she entered the Northern Woods.

An inch after the another.

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**End of Chapter 3**

A/N: Well, here's chapter three! How is it? For everyone reading this story, please **review! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**! So please support mikancchi (me!) by clicking on the **review button** below and review! Thanks~


	5. Chapter 4

**Once Upon A Time**

CHAPTER 4

Disclaimer: Snow White and Gakuen Alice does not belong to me.

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Mikan shivered as she gazed around her surroundings. She was in a thicket of trees, guided only by the faint moonlight that managed to get past the layers of leaves of the trees.

She did not like the dark. She flinched at the sound of her shoes crunching dead leaves and twigs.

Everything seemed eerie. The wind howled in the air.

She hugged herself, extremely scared. She did not realize how being alone in the night in the forest was this frightening.

THUNK.

She jumped a foot in the air.

THUNK.

She slowly turned around. She saw a glint behind a tree. They seemed to be eyes.

And they were looking directly at her.

"KYYAAA!" she screamed. She ran, not caring which direction, as long as it carried her to the farthest distance away from the eyes.

* * *

Mr. Bear looked up, his axe maintaining the pose to chop the firewood. He glared at the man in front of him.

Tono backed away a little at the fixated glare that the animate teddy bear was giving him. "Umm, hello," he stuttered.

Mr. Bear remained silent. Then he resumed his chopping.

THUNK. THUNK. THUNK.

Tono shivered. The thunks that the legendary guardian of the Northern Forest was making echoed in the silent night.

He shifted his weight on one leg to another, keeping one hand securely on his rifle. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but have you seen a girl about this tall," he showed with his hand, "with long brown hair?"

Mr. Bear kept working with his axe, not even giving a sign that he listened.

Tono was unsure what to do. "Excuse me?"

Mr. Bear stopped. He then straightened up, causing Tono to move several steps back.

Then the bear, whose height reached just a little above his knees, gave him a murderous glare that would have made Koizumi Luna proud. He lifted the axe menancingly and advanced towards him.

Tono felt the goosebumps arise on his skin as he ran backwards. "I-I'm very sorry to interrupt your work!"

He ran away, his legs moving so fast that it was a blur.

Mr. Bear stared at the quickly retreating figure before taking up his axe again and chopped the firewood rhythmically.

He needed a lot of logs stocked up so that his cabin would be warm enough to withstand the chilliness of spring.

* * *

Mikan sat on her knees and hugged her arms around herself.

A wolf howled in the distance.

"Eep!" she squeaked, putting both hands on her ears. She was trembling with fear.

She had ran off without thinking when she had heard the 'THUNK'.

And now, she had absolutely no clue where on earth she was.

She was sitting in the middle of no where, surrounded by nothing but trees and bushes... and trees again.

She was scared out of her wits and was ready to cry when she heard the snap of a twig.

She froze, not daring to move. She hitched her breath.

"Who...who's there?" she managed to say.

With a louder and braver voice, she called out to the darkness. "Show yourself!"

A large shadow loomed over her.

Before she could scream, the figure knelt in front of her.

"Princess?"

Mikan's eyes widened. The man had shoulder length black hair and wore the crest of the Sakura kingdom.

"It is! Princess Shirayuki!" he sighed in relief.

"Who...who are you?" she whispered.

The man hesitated. "Ah, well, I'm Tonouichi, and I'm a knight in the castle. Nice to meet you Princess!"

She frowned. "Eh, but why-"

He quickly intercepted. "And I'm going to accompany you on your journey! Since it is not safe for any maiden to walk in the forest alone, especially in the middle of the night! You must be very scared." He said this all in a rush. "Please, let me help you up."

He offered his right hand. As she gave him her hand, he hid his rifle behind his back.

He hoisted her up to her feet. "Now Princess, where to?"

"Are you really going to go with me?" she asked, tilting her head. "Why?"

"Oh, uh -because you are a beautiful maiden, Shirayuki hime (princess)! And I must make sure that you are safe!" he said, flustered.

She giggled at the blushing man. "Well, I was getting pretty scared, and I'm lost. Thank you very much Tonoichi-san!"

They started to walk together.

Tono glanced down at the brunette with sorrowful eyes. Guilt panged him in his chest.

_Actually Princess, I was ordered to kill you by your stepmother..._

He kept silent, listening to the lively princess chat on.

His grip tightened on the rifle.

* * *

A/N: Yay! I finally updated!

Thanks to all those who reviewed and read the story! And the favs and alerts as well!

Sorry for the very slow update...I ran out of inspiration for the story.

If anyone could offer any ideas, that would be great!

Thanks!

Also, please read **Cinderella** and **Fuki Enro**! They are both gakuen alice fanfics as well~

And don't forget to **REVIEW**!

Love ya all~

Mikancchi


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